4 comments:

This year’s EXIT was, like all the ones before it, the most in every respect. The most performers, the most stages, the most visitors, the most wild time. From 7 to 10 July a mass of musicians delighted a mass of people who, by the way, drank a massive amount of beer. All in all, it was excellent. There was some of everything, even rain. BBC Radio 1 was there to broadcast concerts, and MTV continued filming its documentary about the festival. Which this multicultural humanitarian manifestation certainly deserves, since it for some time it has been counted as one of the four most important music festivals in Europe, at least the BBC says so (and they should know). The festival site (www.exitfest.org) has the lists of all of the performers and groups who appeared, and of the better known names it is worth mentioning the Underworld, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, and the White Stripes.

(here are inserted two photos of the Partibrejkersi, with Cane looking a bit heavier and Anton looking not a bit heavier)

The humanitarian (or humanistic) character of the event this year was supposed to be accomplished with a gesture of remembrance for the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, and with a moment of silence in the programme at midnight on 10 July. At least that is what the organisers of the festival announced. This whas quickly followed by the reaction of (who else?) the Radicals, who are currently in power in Novi Sad, the city the city that makes EXIT possible. The party’s acting head, Toma Nikolic, declared that if that commemoration happens then there will not be another EXIT. His argument was that it is not right to take a festival like that, where young people party, have fun and dance, and abuse it and politicise the whole thing by paying respect to the victims of Srebrenica!? Yeah, right …. Paying respect to people murdered in the war is politicisation. It didn’t help that they backed off from their original intention to mention ALL victims, on all sides, or to replace the commemoration with a song to be sung by Annie Lennox. The organisers backed down and the idea collapsed. The Radicals might still be in power next year, so…

(here are inserted two photos of people drinking beer from plastic cups, which is perhaps not so attractive in itself but some of the people look like they are having fun)

But if we leave aside the twisted radical minds, we are still left with the disheartening fact, which can easily be demonstrated by observation of public opinion in Serbia, and which I think also guided the festival organisers when they retreated from confronting the threats, that consciousness in Serbia is not ready for catharsis.

Who knows, maybe at EXIT 10 we will hear some song from Lennox or some human word. If it happens.